JUST IN: Biden-Harris SMACKED DOWN By Federal Judge On Crucial Case

A federal judge has sided with 16 Republican state attorneys general in ruling that the Biden-Harris administration overreached by attempting to extend protections for illegal immigrants living in the U.S.

The decision, handed down late Monday, threatens to derail an initiative to shield immigrants married to U.S. citizens but who entered unlawfully, a category that President Joe Biden believes should be exempt from increased deportation proceedings if former President Donald Trump wins in November's election. Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an administrative stay that stops the government from approving applications for asylum which began last week, the New York Times reported. The 67-page decision is a vindicating win for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and a consortium of Republican law enforcers who argued that the Biden-Harris administration does not have the authority to bypass Congress and set its own immigration policy. "The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date," concurred Judge Barker, who was appointed by former President Donald J. Trump.

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Going forward, the Department of Homeland Security may accept applications for the asylum program but may not process them under a stay that has been set at 14 days with the option to be expanded. The program, known as Keeping Families Together, was implemented on August 19th. It has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans who claimed that the president has effectively proposed "amnesty" on illegal immigrants who married U.S. citizens. Other requirements include that the individuals have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, with DHS saying that the average recipient of the program has been in the country for 23 years. Under current law, immigrants who marry citizens but enter unlawfully must return to their country of origin and wait while their expedited request for citizenship is processed.

Instead of amnesty, the Biden DHS refers to the program as "parole" for asylum seekers, shielding them from deportation and authorizing them to seek employment. Once they obtain legal permanent residency, they may pursue citizenship. That, however, isn't good enough for immigration advocates who ripped Judge Barker's decision. "It is bad for the economy and against human decency to prevent people who have been here working and paying taxes, often for more than 20 years, and married to U.S. citizens, from obtaining legal status more quickly," said Rebecca Shi, the executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition.

Other state attorneys general who joined Paxton in the suit were those of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming. Together, they argued the change in policy, the largest since former President Barack Obama's protections for DREAMers, was implemented "for blatant political purposes" in an election year. President Biden, and by extension Vice President Harris, have contended that the intent was to preserve family unification. Harris, as the administration's "border czar" a title which mainstream media outlets have since scrubbed from their reporting has taken substantial flak for millions of illegal crossings that have occurred during her time in office.

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